"The Impact of Providing Performance Feedback to Teachers and Principals"

Researchers from the American Institutes of Research, on behalf of the federal Institute of Education Sciences, randomly assigned teachers in more than 100 elementary and middle schools across five states—including 1,000 math and English teachers—to either their usual professional development or additional observations and feedback in the areas of classroom practice, student growth, and principal leadership.

The sessions were brief, about 45 minutes each. Yet after the first year, researchers found, students in participating schools performed better on state math tests than those in schools that did not provide additional feedback for staff members. The gains were equal to about four extra weeks of learning.

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